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1 Thank you for registering The Webinar will begin in a few moments Please dial in for the audio portion: Call-in: Pass code: Please do not put this line on hold. Please mute your phone unless you are asking a question.

2 The Critical Role of Home Care Providers in Emergency Preparedness & Response It s more than just a fire drill! Diane Link, RN, MHA Penny Carey, RRT

3 Is This Your Emergency Preparedness Plan?

4 Agenda: Purpose of an Emergency Plan Steps to Design an Emergency Plan Design for Key Scenarios Vulnerability Assessment Incident Command Structure Understanding Four Phases that Emergency Plans assist: Mitigation/Preparedness/Response/Recovery Evaluation of Emergency Plan Business Continuity Plan

5 Purpose of an Emergency Preparedness Plan: Will Your Company be Ready? Disasters often happen quickly and without warning Ensures providers react according to plan which will promote safety of staff and patients We take care of vulnerable patients Educate staff members and patients on appropriate steps to follow Reduces stress during the emergency Creates environment of consistency

6 Steps in Creating an Emergency Plan

7 Vulnerability Assessment: Environment Identify the high probability of an event occurring for your location and the amount of disruption that this event would have on your business Examples of Events: Natural Events (floods, snow storms, earthquake, etc) Technological Event (utilities, informational system failure) Human Events (Influenza/Pandemic Viruses, terrorism, civil disturbance, etc) Examples of High Disruption Patient Population: Ventilator/Oxygen or Infusion Dependent Requiring daily skilled care No alternative caregivers New patients on service

8 Natural Disaster Data for Maryland 1/2013-3/2014 data from NOAA Tornado - 12 events in 6 counties (Prince George s, Baltimore, St. Mary s, Montgomery, Harford and Calvert) Thunderstorms with Winds 32 events in 24 counties Floods 2 events in 2 counties (Garrett and Cecil) Flash Floods 19 events in 20 Counties Excessive Heat 4 days in 17 counties Excess cold/wind chill 4 days in 6 counties (Garrett, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne s, Caroline)

9 HVA Template with Suggestions

10 Mitigate: Lessen the severity of the event by completing the following: Orientation of staff Ongoing education/reinforcement of staff Develop education materials for patients Use already developed materials, but distribute Coordinate with external resources Know local and federal resources Review Emergency Plan annually and modify as needed

11 Preparedness: Activities an organization undertakes to build capacity & identify resources that may be used For the Patient: Educate the following: Storage of basic living supply and medical supplies Educate on medical equipment that requires electricity Educate on back up power sources for life support equipment Emergency Contact Information Evacuation routes How and when to communicate to providers

12 Education Materials for Patient/Family MNCHA s Emergency Preparedness Project: National Resources: US DHHS: Emergency Routes: Emergency Shelters: Earthquake & Thunderstorm: Flood & Hurricane: RedCross.org/SafeandWell

13 Available Free from MNCHA

14 Preparedness: For the Employee: Educate the following: Patients should be assigned a Priority ranking upon admission Allows you to triage in a systematic fashion Remember to re-evaluate patients and their priority level Develop an Incident Command Structure for your Organization Roles that staff assume in an Emergency Set up a strong communication system for staff Who to call when: Phone Tree System or Single blast message Standardized template messages prepared ahead of time Different modalities of communication

15 Incident Command Structure Template

16 Job Duties Incident Commander: Establishes and maintain command: All reports go to commander Public Information Officer: Central Point of Contact for all agencies/media Safety and Security Officer: Anticipates/detects and corrects unsafe conditions

17 Job Duties Operation Chief: Directs all incident tactical operations Planning/Intelligence Chief: Collects and analyzes key data reports Formulates Incident Action Plan and prepares for next level of emergency Logistics Chief: Responsible for acquisition of supplies and staff/evacuation planning Finance/Administration Chief: Monitors cost, contracts and financial time reporting during and after event All section chiefs/officers are part of post emergency evaluation

18 Response: Actions taken and procedures implemented by the organization when an emergency occurs. Allows for quick reaction Providers should develop a Command Structure Regular briefings to assess the following Operational status Needs from Staff to meet patient needs Communication plan to staff/patients/media Documentation of events/actions taken

19 Sample of Emergency Preparedness Tasks List for Potential Emergency Event Alert Staff via phone tree/voic /text alert Assigned staff to run daily census report by acuity level, case manager, type of equipment/supplies and demographics Appropriate staff to notify patients via telephone rescheduling visits as appropriate Scheduler to compile list of visits based on acuity level Manager to evaluate staffing/admission capacity/surge capacity and notify intake department and service line operations staff Additional staff contacted to assess for availability to work

20 Sample of Emergency Preparedness Task List for Sudden Emergency Event (Tornado) Alert received by emergency preparedness officer and notifies receptionist Continual monitoring of weather radio by EP officer Receptionist sends communication alert to all staff/overhead announcement in office Scheduler identifies Patients/Staff that are in direct area of event and notification is made via cell phone by office staff with advice to take cover/move to safe area Continual alerts as event progresses/alert to discontinue when event complete

21 Recovery: Strategies, actions and individuals responsibilities necessary to restore the organization s services after an emergency May need to move into Business Continuity Planning Evaluate the effectiveness of the Emergency Plan Revise plans on lessons learned from event

22 Tools to Document Event/Drill Incident Briefing Incident name Date Time History Current Actions Notes: Accomplishments/Issues Corrective Action for each Issue

23 Review of Event and Next Steps Description & Scope of Disaster Event or BCP Scenario Lessons Learned Strengths of Response Areas of Improvement to Response Recommendations for Enhancing Response Procedures Approved Recommendations for and Date of Policy and/or Procedure Revision

24 Business Continuity Planning Plan for essential ongoing operations in the event of an emergency which would impact business operations Create a plan to be able to prepare for the following: Scenario 1- Key data application not available Scenario 2-Network connectivity lost Scenario 3- Building system interrupted or unavailable Scenario 4- Key vendors unavailable Scenario 5- Personnel/Staff unavailable

25 Evaluate: At Least Annually If Emergency Plan is Implemented: Document all actions taken Meet with Staff and review: What did not work (correct in plan and test in a drill) What did work (celebrate and communicate) If No Emergency During Year: Perform a drill/table top exercise or Participate in a local disaster training

26 Questions?

27 For more information contact: Diane Link RN, MHA: Link Healthcare Advantage or Penny Carey RRT: Johns Hopkins Home Care Group or MNCHA: or